Claw-bar.



N0.'724,523.. PATENTBD APR. 7,1903. G. W. L THRELKELD.

CLAW BAR. APPLICATION FILED MAY 5, 1902 ITED STATES e Prrrnivrrf Gerlos.

CALVERT WOODEORD THRELKELD AND COLIN HODGE THRELKELD, OF

V MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE. i

CLAW-BAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 724,523, dated April '7, 1903.

Application filed May 5, 1902. Serial No. 106,067. (No model.)

T all whom it muy concern:

Be it known that we, OALVERT WooDFoRD THRELKELD and COLIN HODGE THRELKELD, citizens of the United States, residing at Memphis, in the county of Shelby and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and useful Claw- Bar, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to claw-bars, and is designed to provide an improved device of this character which is particularly adapted for drawing spikes from the ties of railwaytracks and is also arranged to facilitate the engagement of the device with spikes at switch-rails and frogs. It is furthermore designed for facilitating the engagement of the jaws of the claw-bar with spikes, to insure al tight grip of the jaws upon the spikes, and to provide a long leverage, so as to give considerable power to the device.

With these and'other objects in view the present invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, shown in the accompanying drawings,and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes in the form, proportion, size, and minor details may be made within the scope of the claims without departing from the spiritor sacricing any of thev advantages of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective viewof a claw-bar constructed and arranged in accordance with the present invention and shown applied to a spike in readiness to extract the same. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the device.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding part's in both figures of the drawings.

In carrying out the invention there is provided an arm 1, which in the full-'sizedde- A stationary.

'rigidly connect these parts. The jaw proper is enlarged laterally, so as to form the opposite transverse shoulders 7, lying in snug en- A gagement with the lower edges of the opposite sides of the box, and the outer or rear face or side of the jaw is rounded or curved, as at 8, and merges upwardlyinto the straight back edge of the rigid shank, which is also nush with the straight back edge of the arm 1, whereby the back of the implement is entirely free from projections, and the curved back land lower edge portion of the rigid jaw 7 is adapted to form a rolling fulcrum-surface for use in extracting a spike, as will be hereinafter explained.

i An opstanding movable jaw 9 has its substantially straight shank portion 10 Working loosely between the lower members of the box with its upper end provided with a longitudinal slot 11 for the reception of a pivotbolt 12, which pierces the ears or extensions 13, carried by the upper ends of the members. A leaf-spring 14 is disposed between the shank 10 and the arm 1 with its upper end bowed around and snugly fitting the upper rounded end of the shank 10, the intermediate portion of the spring being bowed away from the arm 1 with-its lower free end 16 'slidably bearing against the inner side of the the box and pivotally connected thereto by av bolt 19, the eccentric 'surface of the cam working frictionally against the outer side of the shank of the movable jaw, whereby the latter may be forced inwardly toward the stationary jaw by swinging the lever from its dotted position shown in Fig. 2 to its fullline position, so as to grip a spike between the two jaws.

Ion

In manipulating the device to extract a spike the handle 1 is grasped in one hand and vthe lever 17 in the other, the latter being swung outwardly so that the movable jaw may spring outwardly from the fixed jaw under the action of the spring 14, in order that the two jaws may be separated sulciently to straddle the spike 20, the handle 1 being employed to position the device upon the spike. After the jaws have been placed astraddle of the spike the lever 17 is swung inwardly, so as to force the movable jaw 9 inwardly and thereby grip the two jaws upon the spike, after which the handle 1 is released and the upper end of the lever is forced rearwardly and downwardly upon the curved or rounded face 8 of the fixed jaw as a fnlcrum, thereby applying a very powerful lifting action to extract the spike from the cross-tie.

From the foregoing description it will be observed that the box formed by the plates 2 is in a sense the body of the device, and the jaws and the lever 17 are carried by the body, while the handle 1 is employed for directing the body to place the jaws astraddle of a spike. Furthermore, the lever 17 serves two purposes, first, to control the movable jaw 9, so as .to grip a spike between the two jaws, and, second, to form a lever for manipulatingv the entire device after the jaws have been gripped upon a spike. It will here be noted that when the device is being rocked upon the surface 8 as a fulcrum the cam 18 still bears against the movable jaw, so as to eifectually hold the same in snug engagement with the spike, and the greater the force applied to the lever the greater the pressure applied to the movable jaw. It will also be apparent that as the pivoted jaw is located between the lever and the tixed jaw and is engaged by the former at a point between the pivot thereof and the fixed jaw in substantially a line at right angles to the length of the latter a partial toggle action results, and the lever is enabled to form a partial lock in resisting outward movement of the pivoted jaw.

The device of the present invention is made up of very few parts, which are compactly assembled and connected in a very strong and durable manner. Moreover, the device is comparatively narrow, so that it may be inserted in a frog and other places on a track which are often inaccessible to the ordinary form of claw-bar.

Under certain circumstances, if desired, the box may be cast with sockets at the top and bottom to receive the arm 1 and the shank 4.

What we claim is- 1. In a claw-bar, the combination of a relatively xed jaw having its back rounded to form a fulcrum, a handle rigid with the jaw and forming a continuation of the fulcrum, a lever connected with the said jaw, and a piv oted jaw arranged between the fixed jaw and the lever and engaged by the latter at a point between the fulcrum of the lever and the xed jaw in a line substantially at right angles to the' length of the jaw, substantially as described.

2. In a claw-bar, the combination of a relatively fixed jaw, a handle rigidtherewith, a pivoted lever connected with and spaced from the said jaw, and a pivoted jaw located between the lever and the fixed jaw and connected with the latter, and arranged to be engaged by the former at a point between the pivot thereof and the fixed jaw in substantially a line at right angles to the length of the iixedj aw to produce a toggle action and to form a partial lock, substantially as described.

3. In a claw-bar, the combination with a body, of a relatively fixed jaw carried thereby and having its back rounded to form a ful- @rum-bearing, a movable jaw carried by the body, and a cam-lever pivoted upon the body in front of and in frictional operative relation with the front of the movable jaw and also constructed to rock the device upon the fulcrum of the fixed jaw.

la In a claw-bar, the combination with a body, of a relatively fixed jaw carried thereby and having-:its back rounded to form a fulcrum-bearing, a rigid handle carried by and rising from the body, a movable jaw mounted uponv the body in front of the rigid jaw, and a cam-lever pivoted upon the body in front of and in frictional operative relation with the front of the movable jaw to rock the device upon the fulcrum of the fixed jaw.

5. In a claw-bar, the combination with a box or body which is open at the top and bottom, of a relatively fixed jaw projected through the bottom of the box with its back rounded to form a fulcrum, a movable jaw having its upper end pivoted within the box with its lower end projected through the bottom of the box in front of the fixed jaw, and a cam-lever pivoted within the box with its cam portion in frictional cooperative relation with the front side ot the pivotal jaw and rising through the open top of the box. 6. In a claw-bar, the combination with a body having an upstanding handle, of a relatively fixed jaw projected below the bottom of the body and having its back edge rounded to form a fulcrum, a movable jaw pivoted to the body, a spring interposed between the two jaws to force the movable jaw outward, and a cam-lever pivoted within the body in front of the movable jaw with its cam portion in frictional cooperative relation with the outer side of said jaw and its upper end rising above the handle.

7. In a claw-bar, the combination with a box or body, formed of a pair of opposite substantially L-shaped plates, a handle secured between and rising above the plates, a relatively ixed jaw secured between the plates in longitudinal alinement twith the handle and projected below the plates with its back edge rounded upwardly and merging into the back of the handle to form a fulcrum, a movable jaw located in front of the iixed jaw and IOC IXO

pivoted at its upper end between the plates, with its lowerend projected below the plates in cooperative rel-'ation with the xed jaw, and a cam-lever pivoted between the lower outer end portion; of the plates in front of the pivotal jaw With its cam in frictional eooperative relation with the outer side ofl said jaw and its upper end rising above the handle. 8. In a claw-bar, the combination with a box or body formed of opposite plates, of a handle secured between and rising above the plates, a relatively fixed jaw secured between and projected below the plates with its back edge rounded upwardly and merged into the back edges of the plates toform a fulcrum; a l movable jaw in cooperative relation with the fixed jaw with its upper end provided with a longitudinall slot, -a pivot-pin piercing the plates and the slot of the movable ljaw to pen,

CALVERT WOODFORD '.IHRELKELD.v COLIN HODGE THRELKELD.

Witnesses:

CLARENCE D. MOORE, C, L. BAKER. 

